Eames Lounge Chair Wood

Before American involvement in the war, Charles Eames and his friend, architect Eero Saarinen, entered a furniture group into the Museum of Modern Art's "Organic Design in Home Furnishings Competition" in 1940, a contest exploring the natural evolution of furniture in response to the rapidly changing world.

Ray, formally trained as a painter and sculptor, continued experiments with molded plywood designs in the spare room of their apartment.

[1] The entries Charles Eames & Eero Saarinen submitted into the Organic Furniture competition were designed with the seat and backrest joined in a single 'shell'.

The seat was joined to the spine and legs with four heavy rubber washers with embedded nuts, subsequently called 'shock mounts'.

[2] Coming out of an age where furniture was heavy and complex; made from multiple materials and then covered in upholstery, the Eames design was striking.

The chair was produced from 1946 until 1947 by Evans Molded Plywood of Venice Beach, California, for the Herman Miller furniture company in Zeeland, Michigan.

Eames Lounge Chair Wood (LCW)
One of two shock mounts holding the back of the Lounge Chair Metal. The black rubber is glued to the wood; the bolt only connects the frame to a metal insert inside the mount. There are three similar shock mounts supporting the seat.